Battleground
Battlegrounds are instanced areas used for player versus player combat. Each classic battleground (Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin and Alterac Valley) has two red instance entrance portals: one for the Alliance, and one for the Horde. Crossing these portals was originally one of the ways to enter the queue for their respective battlegrounds. Now, to enter the queue for any battleground, the player must seek out a Battlemaster, which can be found at the portal or in any capital city, or do so through the Player vs. Player tab. Once inside the instance, the two teams will engage in large-scale PvP, with various objectives determining the winner. Players will earn honor points making PvP rewards available. If a character goes AFK, he/she will leave the battleground and gain the Deserter debuff. This prevents entry to another battleground for a 15 minute duration. You can report an inactive player by right clicking the player's portrait and selecting "Report AFK". When enough reports are registered, a 60 second debuff will begin to count down. Once the timer is up a new debuff will appear that will prevent the player from gaining any honor or marks while it is on. This debuff can be negated as soon as the player engages in PvP combat. This system is often abused, since a player can have good reasons for not participating in PVP, for example when he is defending. The two initial Battleground areas, Alterac Valley and Warsong Gulch, went live June 7, 2005. Arathi Basin was added to the list in Patch 1.7 on September 13, 2005. A fourth battleground, named Eye of the Storm, was released with the Burning Crusade. A fifth battleground, the Strand of the Ancients, was added in Wrath of the Lich King. The sixth battleground, the Isle of Conquest, was added in Patch 3.2 on August 4, 2009. Silvershard Mines and Temple of Kotmogu were added with the introduction of Mists of Pandaria. Deepwind Gorge were later added in patch 5.3 Winning a Battleground with characters below level 110 awards a Crate of Battlefield Goods. Players on the opposing team also have a chance to receive a crate with an increasing chance based on team score at the end of a match. The crate contains a piece of armor appropriate for the character’s level and specialization with a chance for the crate to contain additional rewards such as weapons or relics. Types Blizzard separates the various battlegrounds into three separate types: * Resource Race ** Keep the resources flowing into the stores of your faction by capturing and holding nodes. Stall the enemy, disrupt their operations and you may soon be cruisin’ the road to victory. * Capture the Flag ** Sneak into the enemy’s fort, take their symbol of pride (flag) and return triumphantly (means: alive) to your own flag. Do not allow the enemy to take your flag or you will be unable to capture theirs. * Warfare ** Ride into the fields of battle and clash with the enemy force. Burn down their towers, obliterate their defences and eliminate, or secure, high priority targets. Existing battlegrounds Warsong Gulch ;Levels : ;Combatants : 10 per faction Arathi Basin ;Levels : ;Combatants : 15 per faction Alterac Valley ;Levels : ;Combatants : 40 per faction Eye of the Storm Requires World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. ;Levels : ;Combatants : 15 per faction Strand of the Ancients Requires World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King ;Levels : ;Combatants : 15 per faction Isle of Conquest Requires World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King ;Levels : ;Combatants : 40 per faction Battle for Gilneas Requires World of Warcraft: Cataclysm ;Levels : ;Combatants : 10 per faction Twin Peaks Requires World of Warcraft: Cataclysm ;Levels : ;Combatants : 10 per faction Silvershard Mines Requires World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria ;Levels : ;Combatants : 10 per faction Temple of Kotmogu Requires World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria ;Levels : ;Combatants : 10 per faction Deepwind Gorge Requires World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria ; Levels : ;Combatants : 15 per faction In Wrath of the Lich King * "Call to Arms" battlegrounds added in Patch 3.3.3 for battlegrounds holiday. In Cataclysm In Cataclysm Patch 4.1, another Dungeon Finder incentive called "Call to Arms" was added which encourages under represented combat roles to join dungeon queues, but it is not to be confused with the Battlegrounds holidays also prefixed with "Call to Arms". Patch 4.3 cross-realm battlegrounds As of Patch 4.3, Real ID cross-realm groups/parties can queue for battlegrounds together. Kaivax|date=1-Dec-2011 9:14 AM PST}} In Mists of Pandaria * Several new battlegrounds. ** Silvershard Mines ** Temple of Kotmogu * Ability to "blacklist" some battlegrounds from adding you to their queue. |date=29-May-2012 8:00PM}} * Call to Arms battleground available everyday. Nethaera|date=5-Jun-2012 9:00 AM PDT|quote2= Is the way we queue for Battlegrounds changing at all? Tom Chilton - Yes, we’re adding a way for players to down-vote two Battlegrounds that they don’t want to see show up when queuing for random Battlegrounds. The exception to this is if it’s the Battleground featured with Call to Arms. You won’t be able to down-vote those when they happen, but this should make it so that it’s less likely you’ll be taking part in a Battleground that you don’t particularly enjoy. It should also help make it more likely that when a particular Battleground comes up on the Call to Arms, you may be able to enjoy it more. We’re also changing the way Call to Arms works so that there will always be a Call to Arms Battleground available. This will allow us to cycle through a larger amount of Battlegrounds on a regular basis. }} Patch 5.3 * Deepwind GorgePatch 5.3.0 Canceled Battlegrounds Azshara Crater Originally slated to be an Alterac Valley style instance, this battleground was far enough along in development that there were even Horde and Alliance entrances in Azshara. It never saw release, however, and with the zone overhaul in Cataclysm removing the physical location in which it would have existed, its fate seems to have been sealed. Azshara Crater in Mists of Pandaria At BlizzCon 2011, Blizzard revealed that they may be working on adding it into World of Warcraft's fourth expansion pack. Gurubashi Catacombs A "deathmatch" style battleground, it was scrapped early in development but the concept eventually turned into Arena PvP. Notes * ... XP in Battlegrounds *Blizzard stated that XP for playing in the battlegrounds has been added in Patch 3.2. * and are the NPCs that can eliminate your experience gaining for a fee should you decide you want to stay a certain level in the battlegrounds. Note that turning off xp will do so for all sources of experience, including quests. *In Patch 3.1.3, Alterac Valley (AV) you can earn XP by killing mobs, however the XP gain is very low if a lot of your faction players are within range. *By glitch or by design, XP awards were increased to move twinks to next bracket quickly, but Call to Honor weekend play still acts as a multiplier of this increased amount, allowing the player to add one level in as little as three wins. Players that know this can use PvP for leveling. Example: Level 42 to level 47 was done on a Sunday in about 5 hours. Incredible XP! :) Patch changes * * * * * * * * * References See also * Battlegrounds holiday * Rated battlegrounds * Battlegroups * Alliance battleground strategies * Horde battleground strategies * PvP Brawls * Advanced Battlegrounds Strategy (silly) * People in the Battlegrounds (silly) External links ;Info Feb 29th 2012 at 4:00PM}} Feb 23rd 2012 at 3:00PM}} ;Guides ;News Feb 2nd 2014 4:00PM}} May 29th 2012 at 8:00PM}} May 13th 2012 at 1:00PM}} de:Schlachtfeld es:Battleground fr:Honneur et champ de bataille it:Battleground pl:Battleground Category:Battlegrounds Category:Cross-realm Category:Game terms